Hamilton tops practice for Chinese GP

Mercedes AMG Petronas

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton set the pace during Friday’s practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix as he ended running almost half a second faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.

Hamilton posted a time of 1:37.219 during low-fuel runs on Option tyres to finish 0.443s ahead of Räikkönen.

Daniel Ricciardo remained in the garage for the first half of the session but posted the third quickest time for Red Bull, just over a second down on Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel recovered from an early spin to go fourth, while Nico Rosberg ran wide at the final corner on his hot lap and was fifth.

Daniil Kvyat was sixth for Red Bull but his session ended in the barriers after he suffered a brake failure.

Kvyat left the pits with a brake problem and Red Bull informed him to return slowly to the garage, but as he lifted off for the hairpin he skated into the gravel and nudged the barriers, damaging the front wing on his RB11.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was seventh while Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was eighth.

Romain Grosjean returned to the cockpit of the Lotus E23 Hybrid after sitting out the first session in favour of reserve pilot Jolyon Palmer and finished ninth, with Jenson Button rounding out the top 10 for McLaren.

Pastor Maldonado was 11^th fastest, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Marcus Ericsson and the Toro Rosso pair of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Nico Hülkenberg placed 16^th for Force India, ahead of Felipe Massa, whose session ended when his rear tyres locked under braking for the hairpin, pitching the Brazilian into a lurid spin. The front of the Williams was slightly damaged after Massa swiped the barriers and the session was briefly halted while his car was recovered.

Sergio Pérez was 18^th quickest, ahead of Manor Marussia duo Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens. The Briton spent much of the session in the garage due to a power unit problem but was able to return to the circuit for the final few minutes.

One worrying aspect was the appearance of a spectator, who darted across the pit straight from the outside of the circuit – between the cars of Ericsson and Hülkenberg – before leaping across the pit wall. The person was apprehended by circuit officials and then handed over to police.